Gonzalo Rojas, Chilean poet, is dead

Rojas, one of Latin America's greatest modern writers, dies at the age of 93

Chilean poet Gonzalo Rojas, regarded as one of Latin America's greatest modern writers, has died in Santiago at the age of 93, his family has announced.

Rojas, who was forced into exile after the 1973 military coup, died today after suffering a debilitating stroke two months ago, one of his sons said.

The poet won numerous literary awards in his time, including the 2003 Cervantes Prize - the top literary award for Spanish-language literature - the Chilean National Prize for Literature, the Queen Sofia Prize of Iberian American Poetry (awarded by the King of Spain), Mexico's Octavio Paz prize and the Jose Hernandez Prize of Argentina.

His son Gonzalo Rojas-May Ortiz told Radio Cooperativa the poet died "after suffering a stroke in February that kept him in serious condition for about two months.'

Rojas's body of work is vast, including his first poetry anthology "The Misery of Man" in 1948, "Against Death" (1964), "Dark" (1977), "Transtierro" (1979), "On Lightning" (1981) and "From the Water" (2007).

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The son of a coal miner, he was born in 1917 in the port of Lebu, 500 kilometers south of Santiago.

Culture Minister Luciano Cruz Coke said the government declared two days of official mourning starting tomorrow, adding that Rojas would be buried on Wednesday in Chillan, some 450 kilometers (280 miles) south of the capital. President Sebastian Pinera is expected to attend the funeral.

Education Minister Joaquin Lavin called the poet's death "a great loss to Chilean literature."